GOP Tax Plan: Gary Cohn's Regrets? Falling Short on Carried Interest

Asked Wednesday morning if he could make any change to the GOP tax bill, Gary Cohn, President Donald Trump's top economic adviser, said he wished they could have cut tax investment gains known as carried interest.

"We probably tried 25 times," Mr. Cohn said at an event sponsored by media company Axios. Why didn't they succeed on eliminating a popular tax provision for hedge funds and private equity firms? "We hit opposition in that big white building with a dome every time," Mr. Cohn said, pointing to the strong lobbying game by the financial industry with Republicans in the House and Senate.

Mr. Cohn said Mr. Trump asked him as recently as Monday about the provision. "He said, 'How did this keep surviving?' He wanted to know if I was doing my job."

-- Nick Timiraos

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 20, 2017 09:39 ET (14:39 GMT)